Pure Torture: a Hunger Games Fanfiction

Chapter 34

Katniss

"These battle scars don't look like they're fading. They don't look like they're going away." -Guy Sebastian

The metal of the gun is cool in my hands. Am I really doing this? My finger's on the trigger. The gun is aimed. I stare at the gun, motionless. It's as if I'm frozen. Finnick comes running over, finally. I turn my head, to see him wide-eyed with terror and panic. I turn my head back to the gun, about to pull the trigger and shoot through my heart. He sees my finger tighten on the trigger. I'm really going to do this, aren't I? He does the first thing he can think of.

I'm knocked to the ground. My finger pushes in on the trigger when I'm knocked down and the gun goes off, sending the bullet flying out. Finnick lies on top of me, shaken up but okay. Me, on the other hand, am not so okay. I let out a cry as I see blood on the floor. Boggs and Gale come sprinting over at the sound of the Gunshot.
"What in the world?!" Boggs yells.
Gale comes to my aid first. He tries to grab at me, but Finnick stops him.

"Gale, wait! You have to be really careful. She's still in a relapse." Finnick explains.
I feel white hot pain in my shoulder and Gale's touch nearing the source. I feel and hear him ripping the fabric of my now slightly bloodied uniform, trying to see the wound. When he sees it, I watch his face go white.
"Katniss..." He says, quietly.
Boggs throws him to the side, getting on his knees to look at my shoulder.
"Just a graze. You're going to be fine. I notified the hospital, too. You're going to be okay." Boggs says to me.
I fixate my eyes on a spot on the ceiling.
"This hurts." I say, zoning in and out.
"I know. You're going to get fixed up soon. Just stay with me, girl. Don't close your eyes." Boggs replies.

"Hey, guys, I found something over here." Finnick yells from a side of the room. I try turning my head. A cry escapes me as shooting pains rush through my shoulder and neck and back.
"What is it?" Boggs asks.
"It's the bullet." Finnick calls back.
Boggs looks over me.
"See, Katniss? It's just a graze." He says, reassuring me.

I watch as my vision blurs and focuses again. The pain in my shoulder worsens and my skin is sticky with blood. People from the hospital are on their way.
"Peeta..." I say, breathless with pain.
"Go get Peeta." Boggs says to Gale and Finnick.
"Commander," Gale protests, "He's still in training."
Boggs turns his head, still crouched next to me, and looks to Finnick.
"I'll go get him." Finnick says.
"Notify them that there's been an emergency and that Peeta is needed by me. They can talk to me later if they have a problem." Boggs adds on.

I hear Finnick's footsteps fade and the doors opening and closing.
"Boggs, what good will having Peeta here do? He might just get in the way." Gale says.
This really rubs me the wrong way. Gale needs to worry about something other than me and him or me and Peeta. Especially when I'm lying on the floor with a gunshot wound to the shoulder.
"It'll give her something for comfort. And it'll give her something more to hold on to. It'll be fine, Gale. He won't get in the way." Boggs says, a little upset by Gale's mind being on Peeta and not my situation. Gale doesn't reply.

I hear the doors open and Peeta comes running into the huge training room.
He crouches down next to me and searches my eyes for something, for anything.
"Hey," I say, hoarsely.
"Oh my god." Is all he says back.
"Relapse. Can you tell? Is it really that bad?" I say to him.
"Yeah, Katniss. I can tell. It's not as bad as you've been before, though. It's going to be fine." He says.
"Oh," I say. I pause, my mind going in and out of consciousness.
"Good." I say finally.

Peeta takes my hand into his.
"I'm tired, Boggs." I say to Boggs.
"You can't sleep yet. I'm sorry, Katniss. Soon." Boggs answers, sadly.
"Those hospital people..." I say, voice trailing, "... Should hurry up."
What little I try to speak comes out in small bits. My vision goes dark or blurry and then comes back into focus. It's hard to keep my eyes open. It's a fight between me and unconsciousness.